May 19, 2010 - The
International Air Transport Association (IATA) which represents some 230
airlines comprising 93% of scheduled international air traffic called on
European governments and air navigation service providers to urgently
develop more precise procedures to identify ash contaminated air space
and allow more flights. The call came in the wake of 1,000 flight
cancellations on Monday (17 May) as a result of the continued volcanic
eruptions in Iceland.

“This problem is
not going away any time soon. The current European-wide system to decide
on airspace closures is not working. We welcome the operational
refinements made by the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) in their
theoretical model but we are still basically relying on one-dimensional
information to make decisions on a four-dimensional problem.

The result is the
unnecessary closure of airspace. Safety is always our number one
priority. But we must make decisions based on facts, not on
uncorroborated theoretical models,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s
Director General and CEO.

Bisignani noted
some successful exceptions which provide examples to follow. “France
has been able to safely keep its airspace open by enhancing the VAAC
data with operational expertise to more precisely determine safe fly
zones. Today, the UK Civil Aviation, working with the UK NATS (the air
navigation service provider), announced another step forward by working
with airlines and manufacturers to more accurately define tolerance
levels while taking into account special operational procedures. Both
are examples for other European governments to follow,” said Bisignani.

Bisignani called
for (1) more robust data collection and analysis (2) a change in the
decision making process and (3) urgency in addressing the issues.

Data Collection
and Analysis: “Numbers show that the current system is flawed. Over
200,000 flights have operated in European airspace identified by the
VAAC as having the potential presence of ash. Not one aircraft has
reported significant ash presence and this is verified by post-flight
aircraft and engine inspections. We must back the theory with facts
gathered by aircraft to test ash concentration.
France
and the UK
are showing that this is possible. If European civil aviation does not
have the resources, it should look to borrow the test aircraft from
other countries or military sources,” said Bisignani.

Changing the
Decision-making Process: “We have lost confidence in the ability of
Europe’s governments to make effective and consistent
decisions. Using the same data, different countries have come to
different conclusions on opening or closing airspace,” said Bisignani.

“Ultimately the
industry needs a decision-making process for ash clouds similar to the
one used for all other operational disruptions. Every day airlines make
decisions whether to fly or not to fly in various weather conditions.
Airlines collate the information available and make informed decisions
placing safety first and with full access to all the latest weather
reporting. Why should volcanic ash be any different?” said Bisignani.

In the
US, which has a lot of experience with
volcanic activity, the government identifies a no-fly zone where ash
concentration is the highest. For all other areas, it is the
responsibility of the airline to decide to fly or not based on the
various data sources available. “The US has well-established, safe and
effective procedures for tracking the hazards of volcanic ash. In recent
years, the industry had no recorded safety incidents from volcanic
activity in US airspace. Europe has a lot to learn,” said Bisignani.

Urgency: “Volcanic
ash is a new challenge for European aviation. We can understand that
systems need to be developed to cope. But what is absolutely inexcusable
is the failure of Europe’s governments
to act urgently and collectively to provide real leadership in a crisis.
We have vast amounts of data from over 200,000 safe flights ready for
analysis to support an urgent review of the current processes. The UK is finally
moving in the right direction. But what about the other affected
European governments? The next transport ministers meeting is scheduled
for June 24.What kind of
leadership waits more than a month to make crisis decisions? European
businesses are dependant on air travel and passengers certainly cannot
wait that long for initiatives like the UK’s to be
implemented continent-wide,” said Bisignani.

To enhance the
industry’s long-term ability to address volcanic ash issues, Bisignani
is traveling to Montreal for urgent meetings with the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). “IATA and ICAO have
been working intensely on this issue since the crisis first struck in
April. IATA is strongly supporting the ICAO task force which is
reviewing ash tolerance thresholds with states, operators, manufacturers
and the scientific community. The responsibility of manufacturers is
critical in providing performance information to back decisions,” said
Bisignani.

Tomorrow Bisignani will meet Roberto Kobeh-Gonzales, President of the
ICAO Council and Raymond Benjamin, ICAO Secretary-General. “It is
important that we act urgently and globally to better deal with this
crisis and to lay a solid foundation for better decision making in
future eruptions. Even as Europe
stumbles with its fragmented approach, IATA is working with the global
community through ICAO and by tapping into the experience of leading
regulators like the US FAA to facilitate harmonized solutions,” said
Bisignani.